Who I Would've Been
by aroundpeginasquarehole
Summary: A tragedy hits Booth and Brennan a lot closer to home than they would like. One-Shot!


She was walking off the platform and towards her office. All of the lights were off in everyone else's offices. As she was walking towards the front door. Her brain wondered towards what had happened two weeks ago and she had been compartmentalizing.

* * *

><p><em>"Come on Bones." He said.<em>

_"I'm coming Booth." She climbed in the front the SUV and they rode to the crime scene._

_"Are you sure about this Bones?" He asked._

_"I'm pregnant Booth. Not an invalid." He shook his head._

_"Well I know this Bones. I'm just thinking that maybe you should stay out of the field for a couple months."_

_"I'll be fine Booth." They had reached the crime scene and Brennan had climbed out and grabbed her kit from the back. She was walking towards the body when bullets started to shower the scene._

_"Bones!" She was then covered by the pressure of another body. Once the shots stopped, Booth rolled off and then she saw the blood that was on his shirt._

_"Booth." He looked down and saw the blood was from her._

_"Come on. We're going to the hospital."_

* * *

><p><em>She was sitting on a hospital bed in a gown and a pair of Booth's sweatpants, her left arm in a sling. Her head was turned to the left and she was looking out the window.<em>

_Her door opened and she didn't turn her head._

_"Bones." She didn't move._

_"Come on Bones, look at me." When she didn't move once again, Booth stood in front of her._

_"Bones." Her eyes swelled up with tears and he pulled her into a hug, only to have her try to get out of his grip._

_"May I please have my cell phone? I want to call Angela." She asked as she turned her head the other way._

_"Of course Bones." He walked towards the nurses station to see if they had found her cell phone among her clothes._

_"I'm sorry sir, we didn't find anything." He walked back to her room and slowly opened the door to see Brennan with her knees tucked up to her chest, her left arm across her stomach, her right on top of her knees._

_"Bones." She barely looked up._

_"You must've dropped your phone at some point. Do you want me to call Angela?"_

_"Please." She tucked her head back down and he walked out of the room._

_He dialed the number and Angela answered right away._

_"Why isn't Bren calling me Booth?"_

_"Because Bones lost her phone at some point." Angela sighed._

_"What happened?"_

_"A bullet grazed her shoulder." Booth stopped._

_"What happened to the baby Booth."_

_"Bones had a miscarriage." Angela was silent for a minute and then there was a ruffling in the background._

_"Oh my God."_

_"Ange, she won't even let me look at her. She wants you to come get her."_

_"I'm already on my way, but see if she'll talk to you. If she does call me."_

_"Okay Ange." He flipped his phone shut and walked back towards her room._

_"Bones." She looked up, her knees still pulled up to her chest._

_"Ange is on her way." He took a step forward and she just looked at him, her blue eyes dull._

_"Bones, this wasn't your fault." She shook her head._

_"No, this is my fault. If I would've listened to you, then we would still be having a child." He opened his mouth to object when Angela came into the room. She took in Brennan and then took big steps towards her._

_"Sweetie." Angela hugged her and Angela looked towards Booth, waving him away._

_He walked out of the room and Brennan turned towards Angela._

_"Take me home please. I just want to get out of here." Angela helped Brennan out of the bed and Brennan checked herself out._  
><em>When they reached Angela's car, Brennan climbed in and looked out of the window.<em>

_Angela drove out of the parking lot and looked towards Brennan._

_"Bren, you have to talk about this. This can't be one of those things you compartmentalize."_

_"I, I just want to go to my apartment and sleep Ange." Angela nodded._

_The rest of the car ride was spent in silence and when they reached Brennan's apartment, Angela and Brennan took the elevator up. When they reached her apartment, Brennan unlocked the door and walked in. The room was cold due to her not being there for weeks._

_The tears came down her face and when she turned around, Angela gave her a hug._

_"Sweetie." Brennan squirmed under her grip and when Angela let her go she fought to take off her sling._

_"Help me get this off."_

_"Sweetie." Brennan looked at her._

_"Help me get this off Ange. I don't want my arm here anymore."_

_Angela took off her sling and when she had, Brennan began to sob into her shoulder._

_"It's gonna be okay sweetie. I promise, everything's gonna be okay."_

* * *

><p>As she came off the stairs and onto the icy sidewalk, she slipped and her back hit on one of the corners of the stairs. All of a sudden, a young, tall, slender woman was offering her her hand.<p>

"Here let me help you." Brennan grabbed her hand and the young woman helped her up.

"Are you okay?" She asked. Brennan wiped off her jacket.

"I'm fine thank you." The woman scrutinized her, her face reminding Brennan of someone.

"Let me walk you home. It will make me feel a lot better." Brennan sighed.

"Okay." As they started to walk, Brennan looked towards the young woman, who was looking at her. Her glasses, Brennan noticed, made her blue eyes seem small, yet familiar.

"Do I know you from somewhere?"

The girl seemed startled. "Me? I don't think so." Brennan looked at the girl who was now looking forward, her long auburn hair hiding her face.  
>"I'm sure I know you from somewhere." The girl shook her head.<p>

"We've never seen each other before." Brennan shrugged. She turned her head to the left before she realized something.  
>"How do you know where to go?"<p>

"I know a lot of things." Brennan then stopped the woman.

"Such as?" Brennan stared her down and the girl turned away and started walking.

"You love cooking. Especially that Mac and Cheese. You're very, very, _very_ smart. You think that the guy your dating is going to abandon you because of what happened. Your best friend-"

"Wait." The girl stopped and turned around.

"How did you know that?"

"Know what?" Brennan shook her head.

"How did you know I was thinking that." The girl looked at the street sign and then nodded.

"Okay. Look at me. Really look at me." The girl took off her glasses. "Now do your thing." Brennan took a step forward.

"Your eyes are a vaguely familiar blue. Your nose is also familiar. And your zygomatic arch-" She stopped and reached her hand to almost touch the girl's cheek.

"You can touch me you know." Her hand made contact and then she pulled back.

"My name would've been Carlie. Just like you wanted. My middle name would've been Elizabeth, after dad's mom. When I would've turned twelve, I would've had to have glasses, and by the time I would've been in my late fifties, early sixties, I would've been blind. This is what I would've looked like when I was sixteen." She put her glasses back on.

"I would've had three siblings. You'll still name one Carly. I would've became a doctor, just like you, except a pediatrician.

"And you and dad? You're gonna make it. You always say that you don't believe in monogamous relationships, well dad's it. Same for dad in case you're wondering."

"That...this, is impossible." She stammered out.

"Nothing is impossible mom." Carlie turned around and started to walk away, then stopped and turned back around.

"Don't forget to check your phone. Dad's called you five...six times. He's worried sick about you." She started to walk away again.

"Wait!" She called. Carlie stopped and turned around.

"Can you... I..." Carlie's face grew puzzled, and then she smiled. And when Carlie smiled, Brennan smiled because Carlie smiled Booth's smile.  
>"Bye mom. I love you."<p>

"I love you too Carlie." Carlie smiled once more, and then she was gone.

Brennan pulled out her phone and saw that she did in fact have six missed calls from Booth. She dialed his number and held the phone to her ear.

"Bones?" Booth asked.

"Can you come get me Booth?" She looked at the street signs. "I'm about four blocks from your apartment on 6th."

"Yeah I'm on my way." She hung up the phone and stood on the corner. About five minutes later, Booth pulled up and parked on the curb. He got out and walked towards her.

"Booth." She wrapped her arms around him and he did the same to her.

"Hi Bones." He buried his face in her hair.

"I'm sorry for how I've been acting lately Booth." She said into his chest. He squeezed her and then pulled back.

"It's okay Bones." She reached up and kissed him and then leaned her head back into his chest.

"Can we go back home Booth?" She looked up at him and he nodded. As they were driving back, Brennan intertwined their fingers and squeezed.  
>When they had finally made it up to Booth's apartment, Brennan dragged Booth to the couch.<p>

"I'm going to tell you something and you have to promise not to judge, laugh or say anything until the end. Okay?" Booth's face became puzzled.

"Okay."

"I met who would've been our daughter tonight. She told me that what she looked like when I met her was what she would've looked like when she was sixteen.

"She said her name would have been Carlie Elizabeth. She wore glasses and had your smile, but my eyes." Brennan looked towards Booth whose eyes seemed far away.

"I thought I knew her." He told her.

"Knew who?"

"Today, my wallet fell out of my pocket as I was walking back to the Hoover from the diner. This young women came up and handed me my wallet." He paused.

"She wore glasses, her eyes reminded me of you, and so didn't her hair.

"As I went to thank her she told me her name was Carlie, smiled at me, and then she disappeared in the crowd." Booth pulled Brennan into his arms.  
>"I guess she just wanted us to know who she would've been."<p>

* * *

><p>*Seventeen Years Later*<p>

"Jeremy! Alyvia! Are you guys ready yet? I'm leaving with or without you." Carly Elizabeth Booth walked into the kitchen and grabbed her car keys right after she gave both her parents a kiss on the cheek.

"Morning mom. Morning dad."

"Morning Carls." Booth told her.

"Good morning Carly." Brennan said while reaching for a coffee cup.

"I'm gonna be out in the car. Tell Jer and Livs that for me please?" Carly walked out the front door and saw a women who looked to be about in her early thirties down on the sidewalk.

The woman had blue eyes and auburn hair that reminded her of her mother's. Carly waved to the woman who smiled and waved back.

"Yep. They did good." Carlie thought as she walked away.


End file.
